


Ready or Not

by ValkyrieWolff (WyckedStarr)



Series: Game On [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, First Dates, Glimmer (She-Ra) is a Good Friend, and allusions to not great foster homes, but there's a brief discussion of cults, not sure if I need to warn for it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:27:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26445595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyckedStarr/pseuds/ValkyrieWolff
Summary: Adora was not nervous about this date, not at all. It was just a first date with the gorgeous woman who had taken her down in laser tag, no pressure at all.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: Game On [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1879294
Comments: 27
Kudos: 157





	1. Nerves

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is finished, I'm just still editing it, I'll be trying to post one chapter a week until it's done. Also I don't think this makes a lot of sense without having read the first story in the series, but don't let me tell you what to do.

Adora wouldn’t say she had a first date routine. That would require actually having been on one before. She’d been on dates, but all her previous first dates had had an aspect of plausible deniability to them in case they went wrong. Just two people, hanging out, doing date-like things. This was a date though, no question about it.

She kind of wished that she had a routine now, she liked routines, they helped her feel less anxious about whatever was coming up.

Her phone beeped and a rush of anxiety shot through her. What if Catra was texting to cancel? What if she’d realised that Adora was way too much of a dork for someone as effortlessly cool as Catra?

Catra: looking forward to tonight :3

Heart rate slowly returning to normal, Adora thought for a second before typing her response.

Adora: Me too. ^_^

Throwing her phone onto the couch, she paced around the living room, stopping to stare at the clock each time she passed it. She swore that the hands never seemed to move.

Standing in the kitchen, Glimmer watched Adora pace, concerned. She’d never seen her best friend so worked up before a date. Pouring a second cup of tea, she intercepted Adora on her next lap around the room.

“Sit down,” she said, trying to channel her mother’s authoritative tone of voice.

Adora took the cup and sat down on the couch, letting herself sink back into the soft cushions. “Thanks,” she said, staring into the brown liquid.

“What are friends for?” Glimmer replied haughtily, sitting beside Adora, and brushing their shoulders together. “What are you worried about?” she asked. “Pretty sure she’s not going to stand you up, with how much you’ve been texting. Plus, she’s already seen you play laser tag, so you don’t have to worry about your competitiveness scaring her off.”

Adora groaned, face turning red. “Don’t remind me.” She took a breath, holding it for a moment, before letting all the air out in a rush. “What if she decides I’m not cool enough to bother with one we actually have a chance to talk?”

Putting her tea down, Glimmer pulled Adora’s cup from her hands and placed it on the table in front of them. She swung her legs up onto the couch and twisted to face Adora, tucking her legs underneath her in one smooth movement.

Hands firm on Adora’s shoulders, she gave her a gentle shake. “Adora. You are the coolest person I know. And if Catra doesn’t see that, then she doesn’t deserve you.”

Meeting Glimmer’s eyes, Adora couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s determined expression. “Thanks Glimmer.” She pulled her into a hug. “I’m so glad I met you.”

“Me too,” Glimmer murmured into Adora’s shoulder.

Drawing back, she slid a hand over Adora’s smooth ponytail. “Do you need a lift?”

“Nah, I’m good.” Adora got to her feet and tugged at the bottom of her red jacket, straightening it out. “Mara’s letting me borrow her car, she dropped it off earlier today.”

“Nice,” Glimmer smirked. “Saves you from having to bike there and risk the helmet hair.”

“Rude,” Adora laughed, hip bumping Glimmer.

“Go. Have fun on your date. Text me if you’re not going to be home tonight,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Glimmer!” Adora said, pretending to be scandalised. She stuck her tongue out at her friend before sweeping out the door dramatically.

* * *

Catra was already at the restaurant by the time Adora got there, traffic having made her run late _again_. She had to pause for a second to catch her breath, after it escaped her at the sight of the other woman.

Catra’s wild curls were barely contained by the hair band pulling back into a ponytail. Her jeans were unreasonably tight and tucked into shit kicker boots. The icing on the cake was the cropped leather jacket she had thrown over her shoulder.

Adora definitely felt under-dressed. “Hi Catra.”

Catra turned and smiled at her. “Hey Adora.”

Adora returned the smile, hands in her pockets to prevent them from telegraphing her nervousness. She thought Catra probably caught wind of it anyway, because her smile softened slightly.

“I haven’t been here before,” Catra said, waving a hand at the restaurant. “I didn’t even know there was a sushi train in this mall.”

Adora nodded. “It gets missed a lot since it’s kinda out of the way, but it’s definitely my favourite,” she replied. “Shall we?”

“After you.” Catra gestured Adora forward with a slightly mocking half bow. Rolling her eyes, Adora grabbed Catra’s hand, dragging her along into the restaurant.


	2. Backstory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering why sushi, I miss my fave sushi train a lot. Enjoy a little bit of the backstory I've invented for these two so they can keep some of their canon issues.

“…so long story short is,” Adora said, over the pile of plates between her and Catra. “Mu parents were survivalists; they believed that the world was going to end soon and I had to be ready to stop it. That I was the only one who could stop it.”

“That’s intense,” Catra breathed. “Sounds almost like a cult.”

Adora nodded, grabbing another plate of ebi nigiri. “It was. I’m really lucky I got out, actually.”

Catra bit her lip, but Adora could tell she wanted to ask. She’d always believed in getting the facts of her upbringing out straight away. If Catra freaked, better she freak now than later down the track. Still, it wasn’t her favourite topic. Sighing, she continued.

“I snuck out one night and ended up running into Glimmer and Bow.”

“Princess Sparkles and Crop Top?” Catra interrupted, surprise colouring her voice.

Adora couldn’t help her laugh. “Hahaha, yup. They were the first people I had ever met outside my parents’ group. Glimmer’s mother death with everything, got me the help I needed. It’s where I met Mara.”

“Your sister?” Catra said, surprised again. She popped another California roll into her mouth, hoping to prevent herself from interrupting.

“Yeah. She’d been in a similar situation, took me under her wing. “Humming happily, Adora bit into her ebi nigiri. “Now we’ve covered the basics of my tragic backstory, how’d you get so good at fighting?”

“Nothing anywhere near as interesting as yours,” Catra said with a shrug. “Just your standard; went into the system as a kid, bounced from foster home to foster home, picked up some stuff along the way.”

Somehow Adora didn’t think it was quite as basic or clear cut as Catra made it sound, but if Catra didn’t want to dive deeper into her backstory over sushi, Adora wasn’t going to push.

“How did you meet Scorpia?” she asked instead.

“Oh,” Catra said, clearly not expecting the topic switch. “We actually went to a summer activity camp together. I swear I became friends with her out of self-defence, Scorpia is too friendly for her own good.”

“She really is,” Adora agreed with a laugh. “It’s part of what makes her and Perfuma so perfect for each other.”

“It’s sickening,” Catra added with a toothy smirk.

“Mmhm,” Adora hummed, adding another plate to the stack in front of her. It didn’t escape her notice that Catra’s tower of plates was the exact same height as hers currently, down to the plate.

With a grin, Catra leaned back on her stool and put one last plate on her tower.

“Don’t start,” Adora said warningly. “We are not turning sushi into a competition.”

“Scared?” Catra asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Hardly,” Adora snorted. “I have a bit of a reputation for having a bottomless stomach,” she said, grabbing Catra’s hand as it moved to hover over the conveyer belt. “But we will 100% make ourselves sick. Let’s save it for arenas that are less likely to result in one of us throwing up. Or at least one where we have a referee.”

“Fine,” Catra said with a sigh and an eyeroll. She dropped her hand back to the table, twisting it to lace her fingers through Adora’s.

Adora glanced at their fingers twined together and flushed slightly. Catra’s hand looked tiny in Adora’s, a reminder of their size difference. It was easy for Adora to forget how much smaller Catra was compared to her, she had such a huge presence that seemed to fill every room she was in.

“You know,” Catra said suddenly, “I’m fairly sure I passed an arcade on the way here. Interested?”

“Definitely,” Adora grinned, pressing the button to call for an employee to tally up the bill. She didn’t take her eyes off Catra the entire time their plates were being counted.

Anticipating her next move, the second the piece off paper touched the table, Adora grabbed it, Catra’s hand brushing across hers just a second too late.

“Ah ha!” Adora crowed, jumping to her feet.

“Adora,” Catra hissed, eyes fixed on the slip of paper. “Give me that.”

“Nope,” Adora said in a sing song voice. “I’m paying and you can’t stop me.”

Catra stepped into Adora’s personal space, staring up at her through her eyelashes. “Adora,” she repeated, this time less a hiss and more a purr.

Adora flushed slightly, subconsciously leaning in closer to Catra. Pushing up on her toes, Catra bit her lip, eyes on Adora’s mouth.

Suddenly, she leapt up, swiping at Adora’s hand, trying to snatch the paper from her.

Laughing, Adora stumbled backwards and stretched her arm up, holding the ticket well out of Catra’s reach. “You’ll have to be quicker than that,” she teased, walking towards the front counter.

“Oh, I will,” Catra hissed as she stalked behind Adora. “You better believe I will be. Next time.”

Tapping her card against the payment terminal, Adora grinned at Catra. “You’re assuming there will be a next time.” Adora hoped the excitement she felt at the idea of Catra already planning for a second date didn’t show through the cool façade she was trying to project.

Catra laughed and punched Adora in the forearm. “Come on Adora. There’s going to be a next time.”

Adora wanted to kiss that smirk off her face so badly it wasn’t funny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if this is longer than the last chapter, turns out I'm really bad at guessing what the word count of something is. My bad.


	3. Battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience everyone, the change of seasons has made me unwell and 2020 continues to be 2020

The arcade was bright, loud, packed and Adora loved it. There was something about the entire atmosphere that seemed almost magical to her. Add in the ability to win cute things or lollies and you had a place Adora could happily spend hours in.

Side by side, Adora and Catra explored the arcade, pointing out their favourite games and any prizes that caught their eye.

“Stars above!” Catra’s awed voice and expression of wonder caught Adora’s attention. Looking away from a fierce Tekken fight, she followed Catra’s pointed finger to see a pair of machines side by side, emblazoned with the words ‘Total Town Destruction’.

“I need to blow something up,” Catra’s eyes were huge, and the reflection from the lights of the arcade machines made them appear to sparkle. She wrapped a hand around Adora’s arm and dragged her over to the game.

Laughing, Adora allowed herself to be pulled across the room, gently bumping Catra’s shoulder with her own as they stood in front of the brightly lit machines.

A stylised tank rolled across the screen, destroying everything in its way. Above it, square text scrolled, spelling out the words ‘how much chaos can you cause before your clock runs out?’

“Highest score wins?” Adora asked, smirking at the still enthralled Catra.

“Best two out of three,” she replied, distracted as she started the game, getting a feel for the controls.

Grinning fiercely, Adora turned her focus to the game in front of her and settled in to wreck some major destruction.

Managing her ammunition, without overheating her tank, was more challenging than Adora had expected. So instead, she enjoyed herself by barrelling through the various structures in her path. Small huts, city halls and towers all fell beneath the tracks of her tank and her cackled laughter matched Catra’s in its unholy glee.

Her favourite part was definitely when she smashed through the base of a statue and the statue itself remained on top of the tank.

Statue along for the ride, her reign of destruction continued until she tried to run over something the tank couldn’t plough through.

The resulting fire ball as her tank collided with the military base was more startling than the game’s computerised voice exclaiming ‘Game Over!’.

Pushing back from the game, Adora turned instead to watch Catra play. She obliterated the military base with a few well-placed missiles, barrelling onwards to her next target. Her eyes were focused on the screen, barely blinking as her fingers danced expertly across the controls.

Rather than starting another game of her own, Adora chose to step back and just watch Catra play. There was something fascinating about her intensity as she rained down virtual hell. The world could be ending and Adora doubted it would break her concentration. It was definitely impressive.

“Fuck!” Catra slammed a hand against the side of the machine.

Adora could see the game over screen replace the exploded tank and then a burst of fireworks filled the screen. ‘New High Score,’ the electronic voice cheered brightly.

“Well done!” Adora yelled as well, bumping Catra’s shoulder with her own.

“I guess,” Catra said with a shrug. She was slightly flushed, but her annoyance was clear in her eyes.

“Seriously!” Adora said, placing her hands on Catra’s shoulders. “That was really impressive! I was out in no time compared to you. You should be proud of how well you did.”

Catra looked away, the annoyance replaced with embarrassment and just a little enjoyment. “Ugh, fine I guess.” She rolled her eyes and shrugged Adora’s hands off her shoulders, putting her own hands in her pockets.

“So…” She said, trying her best for nonchalance. “What do you want to play next?”

Adora grinned and grabbed Catra’s hand, once again dragging her behind her. “Come on,” she said. “I think I saw that they had one of my favourites.”

“Okay weirdo,” Catra drawled, allowing Adora to drag her towards the back of the arcade.

Tucked in a corner, a large screen glowed blue, with two stations set in front of it, each with a connected toy gun. Catra had never seen it before and the title on the glowing blue screen didn’t help either.

“Gun About? What kind of name is that?” Catra asked, raising an eyebrow at the excited Adora.

“Don’t let the name put you off,” Adora replied, taking position in front of one of the guns. “It’s my favourite shooter.” She picked up her gun and pointed at the screen, feet planted exactly shoulder width apart. “You in?”

Scoffing, Catra picked up the other toy gun. “Have you already forgotten that I beat you at laser tag?”

“Because you cheated,” Adora replied, starting the game. She was ready for Catra’s tricks this time and she intended to win.

The game ran through its starting animation and Adora’s focus narrowed to the screen, only a small part of her awareness on the woman by her side.

Enemies fell all around her as she ran through the game, on alert for the indicator that another player was approaching.

Movement caught her attention from the corner of her eye, and she dropped one hand from the toy gun to intercept Catra’s before it could poke her in the ribs. There was no way she was letting Catra find out she was ticklish this early into… could she call it a relationship when they were still on their first date? Didn’t matter, she could shoot one handed.

She loosened her grip on Catra’s wrist to allow her to go back to her side of the game, but instead, Catra altered her grip to tangle their fingers together.

The thrill that ran through her was almost enough to throw her off her game. Almost, but not quite.

The threat of interference from Catra negated, Adora could focus further on the game, blocking out the noise and lights of the arcade around them.

Some time later, she felt arms wrap around her waist and a chin dig into her shoulder.

“You’re _really_ good at this game,” Catra purred into Adora’s ear.

“Mmhm,” Adora responded absentmindedly, too in the zone to register the intimacy of their position.

Finally, Adora put the gun down as the screen flashed ‘total domination’. Blinking, she realised that some of the other people in the arcade had gathered around her, watching her intensely. A few cheered and clapped as the screen displayed her score.

Catra tightened her arms around Adora’s waist, her breath warm against Adora’s neck. “That was very hot,” she whispered to Adora.

“Catra!” Adora hissed, turning her head to stare in horror at Catra. “There are people watching us.”

“Aww, you’re cute when you’re embarrassed,” Catra laughed, but she let go of Adora’s waist and stepped back.

Immediately, Adora missed the warmth of her pressed against her back. She wasn’t certain what to do with her hands now that she wasn’t holding a fake weapon or pressing buttons. Instead she ran through her hair, messing up her ponytail just a little. 

“Do you wanna grab an ice cream?” She asked on impulse, not wanting the night to end just yet.

“I would love to,” Catra responded with a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An internet cookie to anyone who spotted the two references in this chapter! If you want, feel free to throw your answers and a date/activity you'd like to see these two get up to in the comments, I'll add it to the list!
> 
> I've got the last chapter for this one ready to go so as long as I've got an internet connection, it'll be up within the week. Then next up for this series I've got a Mara interlude in the works and a Halloween special that may come after that depending on timing.


	4. Chapter 4

Ice cream in hand, Catra and Adora wandered slowly through the brightly lit car park.

“So then, he tripped over his own feet and absolutely slammed his face into the counter,” Catra recounted, as Adora made a noise of horror. “Apparently, it was the first time the roller rink had to do an injury report before the person even signed in!”

“Poor Kyle,” Adora said, shuddering in sympathy. “That is a whole ‘nother level of accident prone.”

“Yup,” Catra said, popping the p.

She took a bite of her ice cream and Adora had to suppress her cringe. How could she just bite into ice cream like that? Adora’s teeth hurt just watching her.

“Any horror stories from the princesses?” Catra asked, having finished her mouthful of ice cream.

Adora stopped mid lick of ice cream, frozen in place.

It took Catra a few steps to realise Adora wasn’t beside her anymore. “What?” She asked, eyebrows raised.

“Princesses?” Adora asked, incredibly confused.

“Oh…” Catra glanced down, suddenly embarrassed. “It’s just a stupid nickname.”

“But why?” Adora replied, moving to stand next to Catra.

“Ugh,” she groaned and took a deep breath. “It’s just, they’re all so perfect and pretty, like they just stepped out of a fairy tale. So, princesses.”

Adora thought for a second before nodding and crunching the end of her ice cream cone. “That makes sense, I guess.”

Catra let out a sigh, shoulders relaxing. “So?” she repeated.

“Okay, give me a second,” Adora replied, trying to think of a story that would be fun but was also appropriate to share. “Okay, so: Bow likes to work with electronics and make trick arrows. He was trying to make an EMP arrow, don’t ask why,” Adora added, pointing her finger at Catra as she opened her mouth.

With a raised eyebrow, Catra shut her mouth with a snap and gestured for Adora to continue.

“In the process of making the EMP part of the arrow, he miscalculated the range and took out all the electronics in our apartment building.”

“Shiiiiit,” Catra drawled, impressed despite herself. “How much trouble did he get in for that one?”

“Amazingly, none,” Adora admitted.

“How?!”

“Partially because it’s Bow, no one can stay mad at him for long and partially because, as it turns out, it wasn’t the first time something like that had happened, so he got off with a warning. That was also how we met Entrapta, she’d done something similar once before so there was already a policy in place for makers incidents.”

“This is what I’m talking about!” Catra suddenly explained. “It’s like a fairy tale, everything magically works out.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be a particularly fun story if it didn’t work out,” Adora responded with a shrug.

“I guess,” Catra responded with her own shrug. “Like how the bomb always gets disarmed seconds before it explodes. Even if explosions would be more fun than some boring happily ever after.”

Laughing, Adora bumped her shoulder into Catra’s and gave her a cheeky grin. Rolling her eyes, Catra bumped her back, and for a minute they tussled, bumping back and forth until the laughter trailed off.

They walked for a little while in silence, hands occasionally brushing, letting the night begin to wind down naturally. It was nice just being in her company, Adora thought. Something about the silence was soft and warm and Adora could have stayed in that moment forever.

Sadly, she spotted Mara’s car and realised it was probably time to head home. With a sigh, she grabbed Catra’s hands and came to a stop, tugging Catra gently to position her in front of her. Catra made an inquiring noise but didn’t pull away.

“We should probably call it a night,” Adora said softly, reluctant to break the silence.

“Yeah,” Catra agreed. Adora hoped she wasn’t imagining the fainted hint of disappointment in her voice.

“I had a really fun time tonight,” Adora mumbled, biting her lip.

Eyes drawn to her mouth, Catra smiled. “Me too,” she replied, before leaning up to press a closed mouth kiss to Adora’s lips.

Stunned, Adora stared at her wide eyes, one hand coming to her mouth. Her mind was stuck replaying the last few moments over and over again, the feeling of Catra’s soft warm lips a gentle pressure against her own.

Catra smirked. “Good night Adora,” she purred, turning to saunter away.

She was halfway across the car park before Adora snapped out of her shocked silence. “Text me when you get home,” she called after Catra’s retreating form.

She raised her hand, flashing Adora a thumbs up. “Sure thing, you dork,” she called back, laughter clear in her voice.

“Good night Catra,” Adora whispered, leaning against the car. She waited until she could no longer make out Catra’s silhouette in the darkness before getting into the car.

She felt like she was running on autopilot the entire way back to the apartment. There was a lot to process in how the night had gone, but she was still stuck on the kiss, that moment still just repeating over and over again.

Doing her best to move quietly (it was late, and she didn’t want to wake anyone up) she made her way up the stairs to the door of her apartment.

Easing the door closed behind her, Adora closed her eyes and let herself sink to the floor.

“And what time do you call this, young lady?” A cold, intimidating voice rang out and a light suddenly turned on, illuminating Glimmer, sitting facing the doorway with her arms crossed.

Adora stared at Glimmer for a solid minute, brain refusing to engage. Eventually, she gave up on trying to make sense of Glimmer’s words. “What?”

Grinning, Glimmer bounced to her feet and rushed over to Adora’s side, pulling her to her feet. “How did your date go?” She asked, exasperated but amused at the same time.

“Come on Adora,” Bow added from the doorway of the kitchen, tea in hand. “Tell us how your date went! Did you have fun? Did she like the sushi?”

Before Adora could even begin to formulate a response, her phone chimed.

Catra: Home safe

Catra: Sweet dreams Adora Zzz Zzz

Grinning broadly at her phone, Adora quickly typed a response.

Adora: Good night, Catra. Sleep well. #^_^#

Looking up from her phone, Adora came face to face with both Bow and Glimmer, eyes wide and excited. Giving in, Adora let the glee she felt spread over her face.

“I think it went really well,” Adora said with a broad grin.

Squealing with excitement, Bow and Glimmer threw themselves at Adora and the three of them tumbled to the ground, laughing happily.

Adora lay on the floor, flanked by her best friends, and let all the happiness she felt, all her excitement and hope, spill out into laughter. She could never have imagined this life when she was a child, but now, in this moment, she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

_fin_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed our girls' first date! 
> 
> Unfortunately the 2020 timesoup has claimed October and I'm about to be ridiculously busy. My aim right now is to get the first chapter of the halloween fic done by halloween so you at least get to see our girls' costumes. 
> 
> I'm still working on the Mara Interlude, but my brain is also being devoured by a story for a completely different series that's set post-canon and the switching between canon characterisation and Game On characterisation is doing my head in

**Author's Note:**

> This is the shortest of the chapters I'm pretty sure, how to start a story is always something I struggle with. (And how to end it...)


End file.
